The storm made landfall at 3:35am local time on Tuesday near Hong Kong and was expected to churn across the manufacturing centre of Guangdong province, gradually weakening as it moved into the neighbouring Guangxi region.

Flights, ferries and ground transport were heavily disrupted in Hong Kong on Tuesday morning and all classes cancelled.

By noon, the Hong Kong observatory had cancelled its rainstorm warning, but urged people to continue to be vigilant for river flooding. It said it recorded maximum gusts exceeding 80mph.